Death of the Harbinger
by reikat
Summary: Eriah returns from Glenmoril Coven, bearing the heads of several Witches, to help free Kodlak Whitemane from his curse of lycanthropy. She discovers that the Silver Hand hit Jorrvaskr and killed him. Vilkas confronts her on her absence and gives her no choice but to go with him to finish them off. Takes place after Decision Made. One-shot


Eriah entered Whiterun after running an errand for Kodlak Whitemane. The Harbinger of the Companions had enlisted her help in curing his lycanthropy before the rot and old age took him. Kodlak longed for Sovngarde, as opposed to Hircine's hunting grounds, and discovered that the only to break the curse was to burn the heads of the Glenmoril Witches, which had cast the curse on the Harbingers of old. He had sent the Dragonborn to Glenmoril Coven where the Witches resided and that's where she had returned from. She had managed to slay four of the hagravens but she accidentally incinerated one to the point where the head was useless and the fifth Witch managed to escape. Eriah swore to track her down later, as she was also under the curse. She had taken the beastblood out of love for her new husband Farkas. With the heads she collected, she could break Kodlak and the twins free of the curse first and then hunt down the last Witch later to free herself from the Huntsman. Aela had no intention of going to Sovngarde, preferring Hircine's realm of Oblivion. At least there, she'd be reunited Skjor who had died on account of hitting a Silver Hand hangout without back-up.

Coming out of her thoughts, Eriah noticed that the citizens of Whiterun seemed a bit on edge. Getting a bad feeling, she picked up the pace until Jorrvaskr came into view. She saw several of her shield-siblings standing over the bodies of what were unmistakably Silver Hand thugs. Her heart started pounding as she ran up the stairs, dropping the bag of heads at the top. She threw open the doors and came to a halt. There was blood and signs of battle everywhere. Her heart shattered when she saw Kodlak lying dead on the ground, showing obvious signs of having transformed to battle. Njada and Farkas was sitting on either side of him, staring into space, and Farkas didn't so much as look at his wife. Such was his grief that he was deaf and blind to all else. Vilkas stomped over, his face thunderous. The Dragonborn flinched a bit when he grabbed her by the arm and roughly pulled her outside, slamming the door behind him.

That completely broke Eriah from her stupor and she tried to escape his grasp but Vilkas was too strong. He pulled her towards the back of the mead hall before slamming her against the wall, his hands gripping her upper arms. "Where have you been? Why were you not here when the Silver Hand attacked?" he growled, his inner wolf snapping at hers. "Get off me, Vilkas!" Eriah gasped, trying to get out but he kept her pinned to the wall. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what kept you away when this happened." he practically snarled. "I was running a mission from Kodlak! He told me...*gasp*...he told me how to break the curse we're under!" she explained, her knees buckling from the pain. Vilkas wasn't even holding back the strength he possessed as a werewolf and she was pretty sure she was going to have some nice hand-shaped bruises on her arms when this was done. "You expect me to believe that?" he growled, bringing his face a little too close. Eriah jerked her head to the side. She didn't like how close he was because he was crossing a line somewhere and she was starting to hate the fact he and Farkas had the same face. It was hard not to see her husband in the man keeping her trapped against the wall.

"I have proof! The bag by the door...it holds the Glenmoril Witches' heads. Kodlak sent me to wipe them out so he could be freed from his lycanthropy. How was I to know the Silver Hand were going to attack!? If you want to blame someone, by Akatosh, blame Skjor!" she ranted. Vilkas stared at her profile before taking her face in his hand and forcing her to look him in the eye. "Watch it, Sister. Don't speak ill of the dead." he practically growled. "Oh, no. You don't get to pin this all on me, Vilkas. Skjor started this by going off on his own and spilling more blood than honor demanded. This is coming straight from Kodlak himself. These aren't my words. Because of what Skjor did, it opened up the Companions to retribution from the Silver Hand. I just happened to be away when they decided to hit us at home. Don't you dare blame me for this, Vilkas, or so help me, I will Shout you to dust. Trust me, my Unrelenting Force is strong enough to do that now and you know I don't make idle threats. To Oblivion with the fact you're the brother of the man I love. I will take my share of the blame but I'm not shouldering all of it." Eriah snarled, her sorrow and rage making themselves known in equal measure.

Vilkas was quiet and though he was no longer in her face, he still kept her pinned to the wall. Her heart was hammering as she glared off to the side again, not even bothering to hold back the tears. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to save him, Vilkas. If any one of us had foreseen this attack, you can bet your ass I would've held off on that errand until the threat was dealt with. But I'm not Akatosh. I can't see all of Time and everything that happens in it like he can. This tragedy came at very bad timing on all our parts. I can't apologize for what was out of my control." she then said in a quieter voice. Vilkas surprised her next by pulling her into his arms and she responded in kind. His grief was starting to overtake his anger. Eriah let her face drop to his shoulder, her anger being replaced by a cooler head and desire to help her brother-in-law. "You and I are going to pay the Silver Hand a visit at Driftshade Refuge near Dawnstar in the Pale. Not only did they kill Kodlak but they also made off with the shards of Wuuthrad. We're going to get the pieces back and slaughter them. Consider this your atonement." Vilkas said, his hands going to her shoulders. Eriah knew this was pure revenge on his part because she honestly had nothing to atone for. None of this was her fault by any stretch. Kodlak was a victim of circumstance. Nothing more.

"And if I refuse?" she asked, wanting to remain at Farkas's side since revenge wasn't what the late Harbinger wanted. "I'm not giving you a choice. Not if you want my continued support for your marriage to my brother." Vilkas replied, making her balk a bit at the veiled threat. She kept her head cool though by remembering that once Vilkas set his mind to something, there was no changing it and he tended to say things he didn't mean in the heat of the moment. That's how much of a hot-blooded idiot he was. "Fine...but this is your mission, Brother. I'll go along as support but I refuse to get drawn into your little revenge game. It flies in the face of Stendarr and I'd sooner die than disrespect the god of mercy." Eriah said. "Have it your way, Sister. We're leaving immediately." Vilkas said, finally releasing her from his grip and heading towards the front of the hall. Eriah followed and spotted Athis near the door. She went up to the Dunmer and picked up the bag she had dropped. "Athis...can you hang on this for me? This bag contains something very important and you're the only one I can depend on. I don't trust Aela with this because she might get the wrong idea and Farkas is too far gone right now to be of any help." she said.

Athis, probably one of her closest friends in this bunch of misfits, took the bag. "You can count on me, Eriah. Where are you and Vilkas going at a time like this?" he asked. Eriah looked over her shoulder to see Vilkas near the Gildergreen. She didn't have to be a werewolf to sense he was growing very impatient nor did she need the eyes of an eagle to know he was glaring daggers at her. " _He's_ going. I'm following. I'll explain when I get back." she said. The Dunmer and Nord grasped each other's wrists in farewell and Eriah came down the steps. Vilkas said nothing as he turned and headed for Whiterun's gate. As she followed, tears fell anew at the fact that her brother-in-law was practically ripping her away from Farkas at a time when he needed her most. She was his wife, for Mara's sake. She was supposed to be at his side right now, not following his raging fool of a brother on a revenge trip. _"Kodlak forgive me for what's about to happen and not being able to stop Vilkas. Stendarr have mercy on us all."_ she thought as the two put Whiterun behind them as they headed to the north.


End file.
